The Anaheim Ducks have confirmed that goaltender Lukas Dostal will miss the next 2-3 weeks with an upper body injury.
Dostal missed the team’s contest against both the Kings and Canucks earlier this week, but the club kept the 25 year old’s recovery timeline quiet up until this point. It’s unclear when exactly the netminder was injured as he played the entirety of his previous start, a 4-3 overtime winner over Vegas, seemingly without issue.
If his current timeline holds, he’d be in line to likely miss his team’s next 8 contests. Should Anaheim find themselves in need of extra bodies, there’s a chance the club could place him on injured reserve retroactive to whenever he picked up his initial injury to free up a roster spot. For the time being however, that doesn’t appear to be in the team’s plans.
The former 3rd round pick is 11-5-1 on the year with a 2.81 GAA and .904 SV% for the upstart Ducks who find themselves atop the Pacific Division standings. Dostal is in the first year of a 5 year contract extension signed over the summer that see’s him earn $6.5M per season.
During his absence, Anaheim will turn to Petr Mrazek and Ville Husso to shoulder the load between the pipes. The Ducks have yet to name a starter for their Sunday afternoon showdown with Chicago. However, Mrazek is widely expected to get an extended look over the coming weeks.
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